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Atlanta Falcons know what it takes to beat San Francisco 49ers and Colin Kaepernick

By Guy Curtright

Correspondent

Posted:
01/13/2013 04:15:42 PM PST

Updated:
01/14/2013 11:27:23 AM PST

Colin Kaepernick's legs may have been his best weapon. He finished with 16 carries and an average of 11.3 yards per carry. (Mercury News)

ATLANTA -- After knocking Robert Griffin III out of a game early in the season with a concussion and chasing Russell Wilson around Sunday, Atlanta Falcons linebacker Sean Weatherspoon knows all about facing elusive quarterbacks.

It is his experience at the University of Missouri, though, that might prepare him best to go against the 49ers and Colin Kaepernick next Sunday.

"I faced him twice in college when he was at Nevada, and nobody is quite like him," Weatherspoon said. "When the 49ers put him in, I knew it was going to be, 'Look out!' He is just so athletic.

"I beat him twice in college, but it was a battle. It is going to be like that again. I didn't watch much of the game against the Packers, but I didn't have to. I already knew what he could do."

It if hadn't been for Matt Bryant's 49-yard field goal with eight seconds left, the 49ers would be hosting Seattle in the NFC Championship game. Now they have to travel to the Georgia Dome, the site of the Falcons' 30-28 victory over the Seahawks on Sunday.

As relieved as the Falcons felt to win, they knew they didn't have much time to celebrate.

Most of the players watched at least part of the 49ers' 45-31 victory over the Packers and Kaepernick's record-breaking performance Saturday night -- his 181 rushing yards were the most by a quarterback in an NFL game. Now the Falcons will have to face him up close and personal with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

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The Falcons have had mostly success against the read-option, beating Griffin's Washington Redskins and splitting with Cam Newton's Carolina Panthers during the regular season before encountering the quick Wilson.

All read-option teams and running quarterbacks aren't the same, though. The Falcons are aware of that.

"Man, I watched (Kaepernick), and he was a beast," cornerback Dunta Robinson said. "He's going to be tough to stop, but we have to do it. He's hot, and the 49ers are hot. But we've stopped good teams before, and we can do it again."

The Falcons defense has had its good and bad moments, and that continued against the Seahawks. But they have made strides under new defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, the former 49ers head coach.

"We haven't played a complete game yet," Robinson said. "We played a good first half against Seattle, then let up. We can't do that against San Francisco."

The player whom the Falcons will really have to stop, though, is Kaepernick.

Wilson passed for 385 yards and rushed for 60, accounting for three touchdowns. That was 1 yard more and one touchdown fewer than Kaepernick's performance Saturday night.

"We got a taste of what is coming," Falcons safety Thomas DeCoud said.

The former Cal player thinks that the Falcons' experience -- good and bad -- can only help against the 49ers.

"I think the Packers' game plan was to make Kaepernick beat them, and he did," DeCoud said. "He played a great game. But we've gone up against the read-option a number of times, and I think we'll be more ready for it. It's not easy, though. You have to have everything in place and stick with your assignments. That's another explosive team."